Contents

History

Foundation

In 1921, after his ordination to the priesthood on April 10, Hmk Panteleimon begins to reflect on the difficulty of living the monastic life, and begins yearning for monastic silence. He met Ivan Andreevich Kolos, who wanted to become a monk. Together, they decided to earn a enough money to buy a plot of land - Hmk Panteleimon beginning work at Sikorsky Airplane Factory, Ivan continuing work at his parish, where he was the head chanter.

In 1928, land for a monastery is purchased in Jordanville. Hmk Panteleimon continues to work until the land is paid off, and Fr Jacob from St Tikhon's Monastery joins what will become Holy Trinity Monastery. In Spring of 1930, having paid off the land, Hmk Panteleimon quits his job and moves to Jordanville.

Holy Trinity Monastery was established in 1930, with the blessing of Abp Apollinary of North America. The brethren were Monk Jacob, Dcn Ivan (Morozov), Philipp Pisarik and Monk Philaret; later two choir directors joined them: Peter Ivanovich Kozlov (later Hmk Paul (Kozlov)) and Ivan Andreevich Kolos (later Archim. Joseph (Kolos)).

Building of the monastery

In 1934, Hmk Ilya (Gavriliuk), a carpenter, joined the monastery, and assisted in preparing the materials for, and then actually building, a house church and a 16 cell monastic residence. In the same year, Bishop Vitaly (Maximenko) of Detroit was offered the abbacy, but declined. In the Spring of 1935, a church is set up in the small monastic house, and dedicated to the Life-Giving Trinity. On the day after Pentecost of that year, the consecration of the church and the monastery was held, led by Bishop Vitaly (Maximenko). However, tragedy struck: at the end of the Liturgy, smoke was seen at the second floor of the monastic house, and in a few hours, everything had burnt to the ground. Regardless, on the day after this, Ivan Kolos was tonsured and given the name Joseph. The brethren of the monastery lived under the open sky and, relying on the help of God, undertook to rebuild the monastery. In Autumn, the brotherhood bought a two-storey house, which was larger, more comfortable and of better quality than the original.

By the mid-1940s, Holy Trinity Monastery was able to repay the mortgage for the house, finish the barn for 80 cattle, expand the dairy, gain another 200 acres of land, acquire all the needed farming equipment, and buy a linotype machine with a large, 16-station printing press, including Church Slavonic type. This allowed them, in 1946, the freedom to begin building a grand, golden-cupola'd stone cathedral. A key benefactor of this project, Professor Nikolai Nikolaevich Alexandrov, later joined the brotherhood.

Pochaev Lavra, having moved from Pochaev to Germany via Serbia, split in 1946. Some of the monks stayed in Germany, to form the Monastery of St. Job of Pochaev, while 14 of the monks moved, via Switzerland, to Holy Trinity Monastery. Hegumen Panteleimon ceases being abbot, and BishopSeraphim, former abbot of Pochaev Lavra, replaces him as abbot of Holy Trinity Monastery. Bishop Seraphim resumes the publication of Orthodox Russia (Pravoslavnaya Rus), naming Hmk Konstantin (Zaitsev) as editor.

ROCOR in the USA

Bishop Seraphim's abbacy is not long lasting: in 1948, Abp Vitaly Maximenko begins his abbacy at Holy Trinity Monastery, while Bp Seraphim prepares the headquarters of ROCOR in the USA. Persuading Prince Belosselsky to donate land in Mahopac, Bp Seraphim dedicates this land as the Kursk-Root Hermitage and gathers a small monastic brotherhood there.

However, great progress was being made at Holy Trinity Monastery: the Church of St Job of Pochaev, located beneath the cathedral of the monastery, was consecrated, and Holy Trinity Seminary was founded for monastic and priestly aspirants. Abp Vitaly, in addition to his abbatical duties, is also named as rector of the Seminary. The celebration of the consecration was done on November 13/26, and at the same time, Hegumen Panteleimon was elevated to Archimandrite.

Abp Vitaly could not, however, do everything, and in 1952 Archim. Averky (Taushev) was named rector of Holy Trinity Seminary, and in the following year, was consecrated to the episcopacy at Holy Trinity Monastery. On April 2, 1960, Abp Vitaly reposes, ending his twelve-year abbacy of Holy Trinity Monastery. Forty days later, on May 12, Bp Averky was named abbot of Holy Trinity Monastery.

Averky's abbacy

In 1974, Holy Trinity Monastery has the honour of hosting the Third All-Diaspora Council. Two years later, in April, Abp. Averky reposes, and is replaced by Abp Laurus.